And once she falls pregnant, adds a few pounds and a couple of grey hairs, she will be able to put 3 baby chairs inside it, then soccer balls, and she will still feel the memories of the days when she could fit into those white shorts!! (Think about it, this is no joke … same as the progression which drives “vehicle re-design size inflation” and drove aging boomers away from minivan to SUV …)

I’m going to be contrarian. I like it. There were a huge number of Mini variants back in the day, so this isn’t a brand destroying its heritage. It’s clearly a Mini inside and out. If it handles at all like the regular Mini, it’ll be a blast to drive. What’s the problem, other than the stupid “crossover” terminology instead of just calling it the wagon it is?

“There were a huge number of Mini variants back in the day”
No there weren’t. There was the Mini and there was the Mini Van – that’s it. You could get the mini as an Austin, Morris, Wolseley with engines from 850cc to 1285cc Coopers. The only minor variation was the ugly Riley with a small trunk. (Boot).
All of these very similar vehicles were less than half the size of a modern Mini and they sold OK for 40 years. BMW is simply impatient. They want another ‘BRAND’.

It doesn’t look that tall, and it looks like it possesses more wagony goodness than the goofy Clubman. I’m kind of diggin’ it. As SUVs go, it’s still small, and as psarhjinian said, the higher hip point might make it a more attractive Mini for some. Mini can’t survive on just 2 models, and this isn’t a total bastardization of the brand in the same way that the Cayenne is for Porsche. Now get it to showrooms.

Mini is not Smart, it can survive on a single model because its channel is BMW (and the vehicle of a much more mainstream size and configuration too). Mini is no more a stand-alone brand than the 3-series is.

Cayenne is an unattractive car, but heck, it found a niche formerly not open to Porsche to catch the market-segment for fat-overpaid-CEO’s-that-can’t-get-away-from-their-wife-and-kids-who-think-it-makes-them-look-cool-and-youthful (downside is that you create a form of inflation by having to buy BMWs and Audis for all those managers below you to justify having such a corpulent corporate clown car, or enabling its replacement with an X7, truly) for yourself even as your EBITDA comes under increasing pressure.)

Maybe MiniAWD reflects a new sensibility for finding a similar niche at a lower price-point.